


Troll Hunter

by Ecc0craft



Series: Overwatch Hub [5]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Conspiracy, Detective Work, F/M, Gen, Hunting for the Truth, Kidnapping, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-30 01:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15741720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecc0craft/pseuds/Ecc0craft
Summary: Some secrets are secret for a reason...but that won’t stop Olympia Shaw. Talon might try but they don’t have a mischievous god on their side now do they?





	1. Not so safe house

**Author's Note:**

> Another side story from Hub that features Loki. They won’t all feature him but if you’ve read HUB then you know he’s connected to a lot of the plot threads.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be a simple job; Locate the jamming devices being used to relay the mysterious signals harassing Winston and the new Overwatch. Too bad Loki tends to attract trouble everywhere he goes.

Message

A. Clark  
\- Shaw! I have something you might wanna look into. See Link

O. Shaw  
\- What's so special about this address?

A. Clark  
\- I did some research and I am 99% sure this is an old Overwatch safe house.

O. Shaw  
\- So, I've found their safe zones before and they are always empty and abandoned.

A. Clark  
\- Not this one. This one is alive and has people coming and going. One of those people is reported to be a certain patriotic vigilante.

O. Shaw  
\- Soldier 76?!

A. Clark  
\- Do you know of any other patriotic vigilantes? 

O. Shaw  
\- If he's hanging out at one of Overwatch's old safe houses then he is directly linked to the organization...

A. Clark  
\- I'm still not sure about your Jack Morrison theory. I mean, they found a body and there was a big funeral.

O. Shaw  
\- I don't want to be right about this theory, but there are too many similarities to ignore. 

A. Clark  
\- You sure like working hard for that Pulitzer prize. 

O. Shaw  
\- It's not just about the prize, it's about the truth. If I'm right, he will know what really happened in Swizerland and give me some answers.

A. Clark  
\- I want answers too, but you are headed face first into trouble.

O. Shaw  
-I've heard that one before. Don't worry, I can handle it. No secret is safe from me.

//////////////////////////////////////////////

 

Los Angeles California, USA

Loki wasn’t proud of what he’d done when he was here last; waiting for his old teammate to get a few shots of whiskey deep before ambushing him at a sleazy bar, but he didn’t think he’d be able to take the cowboy in a strait fight. 

In an ideal situation, the sniper would have perched himself on the building across the block of the graveyard and blown McCree’s brains out while he paid his respects to their Commander. Hell, that’s what he was going to do before he lost his nerve at the last second and decided he needed to hear the man out.

He didn’t like anything McCree had to say but the cowboy did earn his life from the explanation he gave. He may not have helped Reyes with the coup, in Switzerland but he didn’t find it necessary to warn anyone about what their boss was planning. 

Loki didn’t pull the trigger that day, but he never wanted to see McCree’s face again. Nor did he want to have anything to do with Overwatch...Oh but how things change when there’s a good hunt afoot; and how could he say no to helping good old Winston?

The hunt had already taken him from Sweden to Egypt to here in America. Each little clue leading him further down the rabbit hole. This being the third location, he was starting to see a pattern.  
He leaned down and wiped some of the mud away from Reyes’s headstone as well as some dead leaves and an old wreath of flowers. He stopped when his hand caught something made of metal. Brushing the grass aside, he found what he was here for.

It was a small, black box with an antenna at the top; a signal scrambler that could help disguise a hacker’s location. Now that he had arrived in Los Angeles, Loki was very hot on the trail of the computer troll that had hacked into the Overwatch servers. They had spooked the new gang with a series of mysterious messages that seemed to spell out a warning not to join up at Gibraltar and Winston had finally had enough and employed the former Blackwatch sniper turned mercenary to deal with it.

The box in Loki’s hands was still actively sending a jamming signal to the other boxes around the globe. The boxes he hadn’t found yet, but it was just a matter of time now. The problem with these signal scramblers was that if someone hacked into the frequency of a box, a road map could be made to lead to the others.

All Loki needed now was a safe place to unlock the box and thread the signal into his headset. The cemetery was not secure, whoever was responsible was probably watching him in some way at this very moment.

Standing up from his crouching position, Loki stuffed the black box into the satchel he had with him. He looked down at the headstone in front of him. Whoever was responsible for all this had a sick sense of humor. If this was any other place Loki could respect that.

“Bet yer’ laughing yer’ arse off in the afterlife. Watchin’ me run round like a chicken wit me ‘ead cut off.” Loki huffed, as he placed a bottle of Reyes’s favorite beer along with a few coins on the headstone.

Just an old superstition of his mother’s that he’d held onto. If the dead weren’t properly taken care of, left offering for the afterlife, then they would rise up and stalk the living. Gabriel Reyes was the last person on the planet that Loki would want on his tail, dead or otherwise.

Loki drove off and found himself one of the old Overwatch safe houses; A sad excuse for an apartment on the east side of the city of angels. He could use it to set up His equipment and find the signals. It would be cheaper and easier than finding a motel.

When he pulled up to the old place it was already dark. He parked the truck he had rented a good distance away so as not to draw attention. He got out, locking the door behind him, leaving his rifle case until he scoped out the apartment. He’d travel light in case he needed to bug out fast. The pace he walked was casual and he stuck to the shadows. Checking corners and mapping out the surrounding area was second nature.

There was a tall complex building on the opposite side of that would make a fine sniping spot. The small wood on the other side of the park would make a better one; shielded from the main road with nice tall grass to hide in, plenty of escape routes.

Loki felt a nervous shiver and slid his goggles over his eyes. The “Troll” that Winston was after had made a threat on his life and ever since then Loki had the feeling of eyes on him. He pulled the hood of his old Blackwatch hoodie over his nest of brown hair and picked up the pace.

Maybe parking further away wasn’t such a good idea?

He kept walking until he was stopped by the sound of someone’s footsteps and heavy breathing. He looked behind him but there was nothing.

Loki raised an eyebrow, regarding the empty street and saw a dog with its paws against a chain link fence. It didn’t look like it had seen him yet but Loki didn’t want any trouble so he turned and went up to the safe house before it started barking. There was a keypad combination to get in which he punched with just the slightest hesitation to remember the digits.

He stepped through the door with his side arm drawn and did a sweep before he even though about getting comfortable. He had two bedrooms, a kitchenette and a supply closet to check and found no one.

Still, there was something in the atmosphere that kept him on his toes. Maybe it was his paranoia but something felt off. He didn’t like the look of the place.

As safe houses go…this one was not the worst that Overwatch had to offer. It might have been ugly, dingy and smelled of cigarette smoke but at least it had a space heater and running water. Loki mused on all the worse places he’d stayed during his time with Blackwatch; all the foxholes in the dirt and itchy, cold sniper nests. Hell this place might have even been nicer than his boyhood home in Ireland…

That was suspicious.

Everything seemed too clean for being abandoned for nearly ten years. He wiped away some dust on the old coffee table with one finger, pursing his lips when he found that it had been dusted recently. Someone had been camping out at the old place, but by the stocked storage closets and full kitchen cabinets, they hadn’t been here for long.

It could only have been another former agent, one that was in enough trouble to use this old place. But why come here and not take anything?

Flipping through the different settings on his goggles, Loki tried to see if any other clues had been left. There were very few of the tell tale stains that came with a place like this; No old pools of blood or lewd fluids on the furniture. In fact, both were almost spotless. He knelt down to feel the carpet material; cheap and course but newer than the rest of the building. The paint on the walls was new as well, just an awful faded green that looked ten years old.

No one bothered maintaining these old safe houses after Overwatch fell. There was something very wrong going on here.

His attention was brought to what his goggles detected was a structural weakness in one of the corners. He could see through the x-ray feature that the supporting beams were splintered but the drywall was completely pristine around them. Loki frowned and approached the wall. His goggles picked up more abnormalities as he got closer. Using the but of his gun, he punched a hole in between two splintered beams. He stuck in his hand and pulled out one of the abnormalities in the wood, a small lead shotgun pellet.

“What the…” Loki muttered under his breath.

He moved back to the kitchen and checked the cabinet again. All the cans there were new; some of the advertisements on them could only be from this year. When he kept on digging he found the lens of a camera staring back at him.

“Fuck.” He grunted as he disconnected the device. The place had been compromised, probably being used as a trap for agents...and he’d just walked into it.

Time to go.

Loki got to the door but as it slid open he was met by a small body smacking into his with force. It wasn’t enough to knock him off balance, only startle him. He let out a gasp of surprise, holding up his gun as a woman fell onto her backside with a pained groan.

She looked up at him with wide brown eyes and quivering lips. It was a face that said, ‘I am about to scream an wake the whole neighborhood.’

Loki lunged forward and was just in time to catch her scream in his palm. She struggled backwards, kicking and punching, even sinking her teeth into one of his gloved fingers.

“Aye! That’s enough!” He growled, holding the gun to her head. She stopped struggling and looked at him in terror. It made his guts twist, she wasn’t a threat, probably a local, investigating the hooded stranger that was skulking around her complex.  
He was about to let her go when an unmarked van screeched around the corner.

A man in a black combat uniform leaned out the passenger side window and began firing an SMG. With trained instincts, Loki grabbed the woman, rolled out of the line of fire and shuffled back into the apartment.

“Who the Fuck was that?! Did she have someone with her?!” Loki heard another man scream as he latched the door. Well that was different, the party was after the woman instead of him.

Looking her over, She had stopped fighting him and was breathing heavily into his palm. It appeared like she had just made an escape attempt; her wrists all brushed, hair and clothes disheveled. She was scared, probably convinced that he was here to kill her too.

Turning on the heat sensor on his goggles, Loki could see six signatures, including the driver. Five of them were moving in on his location in a formation that was eerily similar to the ones he ran in Blackwatch.

“Talon.” He mused. The woman wimpered and tried to tuck her head away from him. “Now what did you do ta have them come after ye’?”  
Loki holstered his gun and looked down at her. She looked up at him but this time with an angry resolve. A brave face to grant some dignity to her damsel status.

“O’ right, Lassie. You wanna live? Do as I say and keep yer mouth shut, understand?" She nodded her head as the Talon agents reached the door and he released her. "There is a supply closet in the back of the bedroom, go there and lock the door, don't open i for anyone but me."

As the woman ran behind him, he killed the power so Talon would have to use their night vision helmets. Dependence on their technology was something Loki could exploit.

The agents got in without having to break anything, using a normal key, confirming Loki’s theory that this safe house was nothing more than a Talon trap. They moved up, one with a barrier shield taking point with a shotgun and a rifle man next to him; Loki’s goggles picked up two flankers around the back of the apartment, probably with SMGs to cut off any escape. Another shotgun was at the front, guarding the door.

This was definitely not Loki’s preference for a fight; he was indoors and in close range, he only had his pistol, one spare magazine (18 shots total) and his boot knife. There was no way to take down the barrier shield and the Talon body armor was far too thick for the gear he had.

That left only one plan in Reyes’s old Blackwatch handbook.  
Step 1: cut off line of sight.  
Step 2: Divide the group  
Step 3: Acquire better stopping power  
Step 4: Neutralize threat.

First things first, take away their eyes. Loki turned the dial on his goggles and moved into a crouch.

“Lights out.” He whispered, grinning to himself.

The advancing men in front of him stopped in their tracks. “Sir! Problem with my helmet, I’ve lost visual!”

“What the hell is—”

Loki darted at the mens’ legs, bringing down the shotgun and rifleman. The man with the shield swung his arm blindly trying to hit him but hit the wall instead. Loki relieved one man of his shotgun and unloaded four shots into the shield man’s back. Before the two men he’d knocked down could get back up he shot them as well.

The one guarding the door stepped through and fired off a shot. Loki dove behind the couch, shooting out the man’s legs.

A sharp pain in his right leg told him he’d taken some pellets. He clutched his injured limb, and leaned his back against the wall. Blood was trickling out but as far as Loki could tell he had only been grazed.

“Teammates down! I need backup!” The man at the door shouted. His voice wasn’t muffled by a helmet so he must have discarded his when Loki’s jammer started.

Loki peeked around his cover and fired the last round in his shotgun at the man’s unprotected head. The man slumped over in a dead heap as the two SMG wielders arrived on the scene.

They were more cautious, waiting at the door instead of funneling in. Loki had the rifle now, and was prone beside the bodies of the Talon agents. He couldn’t take them both now, not with them on high alert. As soon as he fired at one the other would blow him away.

He needed a distraction. 

He kept the rifle trained at the door. Using one hand, he unzipped his hoodie and turned the dial on the harness he wore underneath. He flipped off the jammer on his goggles and activated the third eye.

“Forward, charge.” He instructed.

The two men at the door were poised to enter when Loki ran straight past them without regard for his own safety. He was making a break for their van so they opened fire.

The bullets should have hit but he kept running. One agent gave chase, firing again and this time Loki stopped just before the van. His form flickered for a moment, becoming translucent. 

"A hologram?!" The man in pursuit stopped in his tracks, chiding himself for being fooled.

"Not quite boyo." The hologram turned its head to him and made a metallic laugh.

Before the man could react a shot rang out behind him and his partner dropped dead. The agent raised his gun to defend himself but another shot hit him in the shoulder. He fell backward on the pavement clutching his wound but didn't drop his gun. Scuttling backwards, he attempted to take cover behind the van when the hologram spoke to him again.

"Drop the gun or he'll kill you." It warned. 

The agent responded by firing his gun at it. A last shot from the rifle rang out and a round pierced he man's head. Loki emerged from the safe house, rifle still at the ready. He limped over to the body to inspect his handy work. Right between the eyes, perfect as usual.

“Aye, You killed em then.” The hologram said dryly. “Bit a shame, we could have questioned him.”

“Not ‘ere. And I don’t want someone else around to scare the Lass.” Loki answered, lowering the rifle and grabbing one agent by the ankle.

“Funny, ye feel the need to justify yer’ self to me. Or is it just the blood loss gettin’ to ye?” The hologram cackled as Loki dragged the bodies back to the safe house. “What are ye doing ye morbid bastard?"

"Clean up." Loki replied. 

"Aye, I would lend a hand but...I got none!” It snickered.

“Ye’re such a comedian, dummy.” Loki pupped irritably.

“Jokes aside we best get outta 'ere before the local authorities show up." It backpedaled beside Loki. "Or do ye wanna talk to the fuzz? I'm sure the'll be mighty understanding of this massacre ye've just committed." 

Loki grabbed the last body and drug it into the house. "That's trouble I don't need."

"Exactly! So move yer arse! Also, just a reminder,The lass is still locked in the closet." The hologram sputtered before fading out for which Loki was grateful. 

The AI that controlled the drones was a primitive one but it was still capable of learning. It wasn’t self aware or capable of higher thought like an Omnic, it was only a distorted reflection of the user’s dominant traits. Part of its function was to copy speech and mannerisms to better mimic the one it was projecting. All this data was saved into a list of basic behaviors responding to different situations. That being said, it had so much data on Loki that it could impersonate him almost flawlessly. Though because of its limited programming, its impression came out as an exaggerated caricature. It was his time spent alone with himself where Loki realized how annoying he could be.

Loki piled the bodies next to the couch and limped to the supply closet. His leg was hurting a lot now, he'd need a nano shot once he got back to his truck. He'd need to be quick at securing the woman and decommissioning the safe house before the Police showed up.

"Coast is clear Lassie. Open the door." He said gruffly, giving the door a knock. He was counting on his distinctive accent convincing her that it was really him. After a few seconds of silence he knocked again. "Come out! This place is not safe, we gotta get outta 'ere."

There was the sound of gears turning and the door opened a crack. The emergency light was on so Loki could see two eyes peeking out. "Are they gone?" A small voice asked.

"Aye, but I'm torching this place...so ye might not wanna stick around." Loki said as he held out his hand. She shrank back, eyes still wide. "I'm not gonna hurt ya." He lowered his tone, trying to sound gentle. Using his other hand he pushed the goggles up so she could see his eyes and gave her a soft smile.

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Not the reaction Loki was hoping for.

"Eh, come on, I'm not THAT ugly." Loki quipped, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You..." The woman stammered. "You're Oliver Briggs...you were Overwatch."

Loki froze. He had not been addressed with his own name in years. How did she know him? He was with Overwatch, yes, but he was not one of the flashy boys in blue on the posters. No stranger knew who he was unless they were trying to kill him.

"How do you--" The sound of sirens cut him off. He leaned forward, taking her hand. "Come on, ye can wait for them outside."

"NO! No Police!" The woman shrieked. Loki raised both eyebrows in confusion. "Please...I...I..."

She fell limp and Loki caught her. Not exactly unconscious but she wouldn't move. The adrenaline rush that she had must have run out. The sirens were getting closer and Loki just stood there. He had a decision to make: Get out, leave her for the police and ignore her plea...or take her with him.

"Well, Fuck."


	2. On the road to the truth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaw awakens and needs to make a plan to move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story ties directly into ch9 of Overwatch Hub.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ..

Message 

Unknown- What do you think you’re doing Mr. Briggs?

IGNORE 

Unknown- What you’re doing is kidnapping. That is how everyone will see it. Do not delude yourself, taking that woman doesn’t make you a hero.

IGNORE

Unknown- Leave her at the police station and stop your foolish pursuit of those black boxes.

IGNORE

Unknown- There will be consequences to your disobedience.

 

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

It all happened so fast, she hadn’t even reached the Overwatch safe house when a man in a police cruiser stopped her. She barely got two words out before a bag was thrown over her head and she felt the pain of a needle being pressed into her neck. She remembered waking up in the back of a car. Hands poking and prodding her in the darkness. People were talking, going through her notes, dumping them out. They were talking about her, commenting on the terrible things they were going to do once they got to their hideout.

She pushed the bag off of her head slowly. The drugs made her vision blurry but she could make out a red claw insignia on the shoulder. Talon, she needed to get out of here.

With them distracted she managed to struggle free from the restraints around her hands. When the car stopped at a red light she made a break for it. Opening the side door and leaping into a field then running as fast as she could to and apartment building. Finding herself in a darkened neighborhood she tried screaming for help but her throat ran dry. If it was because of the drugs still in her system or the fear for her life, she did not know.

A dog started barking. She went to an apartment and banged on the door. It didn’t open.

“Help.” She managed to croak out, too weakly for anyone to hear. “Help!”

She could hear the screaming of tires as Talon pursued her. There was another house with a light on out front so she ran towards it. She was almost there when the door suddenly opened and she plowed face first into a broad chest and landed in the street. A dark figure stood over her, glaring at her with three yellow eyes. She opened her mouth to scream but it lunged for her clamping a hand over her mouth and putting a gun to her head.

 

Olympia Shaw's eyes flickered open as she got flashes of the nights events. She couldn't tell how long she'd been out but it must have been a few hours. Morning sunlight was streaming in warming her face. She felt the ground moving underneath her indicating she was in a vehicle but didn't remember ever getting into one. 

Those agents...Talon! They had her again! 

Fearing for her life, she sat up with an alarmed gasp, flinging off a coat that had been draped over her. She couldn't stop herself from hyperventilating as she struggled with a seat belt buckle that tightened as she squirmed.

"Oi calm down Lassie, ye're alright." A man said as he pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road. He parked the car and held up his palms. "I'm not gonna hurt ye, I promise."

"You..." She looked at his face, warm brown eyes, a twice broken nose, spiky brown hair with red brown stubble on his chin. More of the night's events came flooding back to her as the dark figure in her mind slowly became him. He shielded her from gunfire and fought off the Talon agents. Not an imposing danger but her protector.

"Breathe, Take it easy." He said, pushing a mug of warm liquid into her trembling hands. "Drink this, it'll help."

Taking several deep breaths, Shaw settled herself down. It was okay, she was going to be okay. She put the cup to her lips and was greeted with a rich sweetness. " Hot Chocolate?" She murmured before taking another gulp.

"Aye. Always works for me."

“Thank you." Shaw murmured at the memory of him carrying her to his truck and covering her with his coat. “Not just for the coco...for everything.”

"Oh, yer welcome, Ms. Shaw." He said, to which Shaw looked at him in confusion. She had never introduced herself. "It took me a second to figure out where I'd seen ye before but then I remembered seein' ye on TV. Atlas News journalist, eh?"

"Yes.” That was true but she was far from a regular on air. Not these days especially. “I'm not on TV very often, how did you--"

"Sniper's curse, I never forget a face." He replied before she could finish. "Now that's how I know you, now how do ye know me?"

"What?" Shaw asked, she didn't know him...not really. They had never met until hours before.

"You called me by me name last night. Ye remember that?"

Shaw racked her brain, she could barely remember anything. It came back to her with another sip of coco. His name was Oliver Briggs and he was a former Overwatch agent now a mercenary. "Mr. Briggs...Loki"

"Aye, That's me; Blackwatch’s finest but few people know that. So how do you?" Briggs sounded tense, like having his name out there was some sort of violation. He had an intense gaze that she likened to a snake’s when it was poised to bite.

"You were at the trial." Shaw said defensively. "You spoke as a character witness for Security Chief Liao when Overwatch was destroyed."

"So, ye was there too..." Briggs broke his gaze, scratching his head. He glanced back at Shaw almost apologetic for frightening her. “Messy business that was.”

"I remembered you because of what you said." Shaw leaned forward. “What you said about Liao...”

"What? That the chief was innocent?" Briggs laughed cynically. "Ye reporters had a field day when the guilty verdict came out."

Shaw scrunched up her nose. "Yes, but nobody reported on his release when the official story was changed. I thought the entire thing was strange from the beginning so I have been investigating, trying to find the truth." 

“How refreshing, a journalist who cares about the truth.” Briggs huffed.

She stared into the mug of chocolate and let out a sigh. Briggs had a right to be upset, even she had run with the guilty verdict story despite her suspicions. "I've come across some disturbing rumors, stories that don’t line up...I must have been getting close to something since Talon came after me."

"What sort of disturbin' rumors?" Briggs raised an eyebrow.

Shaw tensed her shoulders, debating on weather or not to share what she had learned. Briggs had saved her life but that didn't mean she trusted him completely. She had already said too much. As her experience with mercenaries went, they could protect her one minute and sell her out the next if they got a better price. For that reason, she never gave them the full story. One with the call-sign of a duplicitous god was not going to be the exception. 

Briggs picked up on this quickly. "Not gonna tell me, that's fine. Just say where I should drop ye off. Ye're still shaken up, Hospital...maybe?"

"I...I'm sorry! Please don't leave me alone!” She said, in a panic. This wasn't what she wanted, she wouldn't last the day if she stayed in LA, "Please...I don't have anywhere I know is safe! They have people in the police it was an officer that first caught me!"

"You...might have mentioned not trustin' them. Damn it all." Briggs grumbled as he shifted in his seat, wincing a little and clutching at his leg.

"Are...are you hurt?!" Shaw gasped as she reached to pull his head away from the bloody cloth around his leg.

Briggs caught her wrist and shook his head. “It’s just a scratch. Looks worse than it is.”

Shaw frowned. “Maybe you’re the one who needs a hospital.” 

“I appreciate the concern, Lassie, but I’ve been patching meself up for years. I’m gettin pretty good at it.” Briggs let go of her hand, leaning back in his chair. "Whatever it is that you've got yerself into, it's not just Talon that'll want ye gone. Local police are not something they usually try and infiltrate. Too small with a limited influence...You mentioned Liao before? About him being innocent..."

Briggs cleared his throat impatiently so she elected to drop the subject for now. "As I said, the way his trial was handled is one of the first things that made me think that something wasn't right."

"Well there ye go. Liao is patient zero when it comes to Overwatch conspiracy. Petras and the rest of those UN bastards used him as a scapegoat to make the whole Overwatch destruction go away quietly.”

"What are you saying, that Petras is behind the fall? That's crazy!" Shaw said. “Why would you think something like this?”

“There are a lot of things ye don’t know. I had evidence, a recording of an argument between Liao and Reyes that could clear his name but it went missing. After the trial two men were sent to me apartment to shut me up for makin' a big fuss about it." Briggs shook his head, gripping the steering wheel. "They want people like me and Liao to disappear. The want people like you to disappear because ye ask questions that they don't want answered."

As it sunk in it made more sense with the facts Shaw knew. She had been warned to not pursue this story. Everyone said it was either too outlandish or a waste of time. Amanda Clark had government connections supposedly and she had set her up with that false 76 lead..."I need to find Soldier 76 he might have answers."

"Ye what?!"

"I can pay you for your assistance." She tried appealing to his mercenary sensibilities. “I...I can’t do it alone.”

"It's not that...Why the hell would 76 have answers?" Briggs asked. "Besides, there is no finding that mean piece of work. He's a ghost when he’s not shooting up warehouses."

Shaw swallowed, she needed to tell someone. Briggs was a mercenary but he was also Overwatch she had to trust him. "76 will have answers because he's Jack Morrison!" It sounded so strange when she said it out loud.

Across from her, Briggs’s jaw dropped to say something, mouthing another ‘What?!” before closing. He blinked several times, swallowed to clear his throat then rubbed the back of his neck. "Ye know, when I said Ghost...I didn't mean literally."

Shaw frowned. Was he making fun of her? "I'm serious! I've seen the videos from Helix and he is definitely a super soldier like Morrison was. He's also the right age and build and he hits old Overwatch Watchpoints. Morrison will know the truth about what happened."

"Well even if this is true, you won't find him." Briggs leaned one hand on the steering wheel and shrugged. "It means he's in the same boat as me and he doesn't want ta be found. Probably because people are tryin to kill him. I'm sorry but you won't get the answers ye want from him."

Shaws shoulder's slumped. What was she going to do now? There had to be another way. Her life depended on this now.

"But...I do know someone who might." He put the car in drive and got back on the road.

Shaw looked up. "Really, Who?"

Briggs grinned. "Patient Zero himself."

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////

Message 

Clark- We have a problem.  
gL- already know about Sombra and her trap in the desert. She is getting bolder.

Clark- Not that. Your identity might be compromised.

gL- I take it the journalist escaped.

Clark- She wasn’t alone. One of Reyes’s ex-agents killed the team of Talon agents and drove off with her.

gL- Blackwatch...

Clark- He is an unruly pawn that lives to create chaos everywhere he goes.

gL- So it’s Briggs then. Are you telling me this because you want me to eliminate him?

Clark- Continue tracking the archer for now. I want to find out where Briggs is going first. If he’s smart he will have ditched his phone so he will need to get help from someone nearby.

gL- And what of the journalist? We might gain some unwanted attention with her disappearance.

Clark- You let me handle that. The Blackwatch agent’s involvement might still work in my favor. You of all people know that the public loves a story with a tragic ending; and Mr. Briggs is the perfect villain.


End file.
